Over the past day, McCain and Obama have engaged the debate about Iraq, Iran, and, by extension, America’s national defense and role in the world. Good.

I don’t want the 2008 election determined by Rev. Wright or Rev. Hagee, by Obama’s skin color or McCain’s age, by this quote or that photo-op. I don’t even want it decided by economic, social, or other domestic issues. These are distractions from the big questions.

I changed parties last year because I was convinced that the misadventure in Iraq was a colossal blunder and very dangerous to America’s security and our future. What are we going to do about Iraq? What kind of role should we play in the world? How should we approach our national security? To me, this year, those are the key issues.

Now Obama and McCain are going at it. Good. Excellent. “Reckless?” Who’s reckless? What policies are “reckless?” Yes, let’s talk about “reckless!”

Obviously I think this line of argument favors my man. But, even if it turns out not to, even if John McCain is elected, then there will be some satisfaction in knowing that the voters saw and heard these arguments and made an informed, undistracted, decision. (And then I’ll move to Canada, but that’s another matter.)

John McCain and George Bush know as much about “hysterical diatribes” as they do about WMDs and “elevating the tone of debates.”

10:30 — find one thing in there that is hysterical or diatribe-like.

“George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.” Damn straight.

Exclusive Video: McCain Was For Talking To Hamas Before He Was Against It… - Politics on The Huffington Post

McCAIN: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

Well, I agree, … at least one of the candidates who favors talking to Hamas is unfit to defend America.

I could mention that another candidate indicated he would talk to the government of Iran without preconditions, but since candidates aren’t expected to know Sunnis from Shiites, nor Hamas from Iran, we’ll let that one go.

Bonus Round: I disagree with many Bush-ite commenters on this site. IMHO, they advocate policies that are violent, dangerous, authoritarian, bad for America, and bad for the world. Do their comments here, the discussions we have, do these constitute my “appeasement” of them? Am I “appeasing” these dangerous right-wingers, these extremists and radicals, by talking to them?

This guy’s a lunatic. Fun to watch, but a lunatic.

You have got to read Michael Medved’s latest foray into pseudoscience: he has declared American superiority to be genetic, encoded in our good old American DNA. Because our ancestors were immigrants, who were risk-takers, who were selected for their energy and aggressiveness. Oh, except for those who are descended from slaves.

I trust that in the comments, Canuckistani will expand upon the Medved thesis, proving that Canadians are even better than us. … Hmmm. Maybe, since there were few, if any slaves, in Canada, their superior immigrant DNA has not been “leavened” with any of that inferior slave stuff that perniciously wove its way into most American family trees.

Canadians .. the new Uber-Mensch!

Oh, how the mighty have falllen.

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

Not this one.

An Omaha man struggling to breathe used a steak knife to perform an at-home tracheotomy. Steve Wilder said he thought he was going to die when he awoke one night last week and couldn’t breath.

Wilder said he didn’t call 911 because he didn’t think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old says, he got a steak knife from the kitchen and made a small hole in his throat, allowing air to gush in.

McCain just said the United States should set up a missile defense system in Czechoslovakia. Should we assume he meant the Czech Republic?

Czechoslovakia hasn’t existed for 15 years. Perhaps McSame wants to look into basing them in the Free City of Danzig, too.

The Democratic nomination battle is over. John looks forward.

And don’t get me wrong- I am not for Obama because of what I am against. I am for Obama because he is a decent man, a break from the past, and really a once in a lifetime opportunity. He has treated us like adults throughout this primary, and it is time to act like adults. There will be times we feel he lets us all down, but we are not electing a diety. We are electing a leader, and Obama is that leader. It is time to get past the bullshit of the last 20 years, the battles I am really tired of fighting, and time to turn our attention to the really important issues of the day- the economy, the budget, our international presence, our crumbling infrastructure, our military, medicare and medicaid and social security, and on and on and on.